…although pretty much anyone will find these tips helpful.

3 posts on the theme of “Productivity” from copywriters who know what they’re talking about…

First up, Michel Fortin…

“Get More Done Faster With These 6 Tips”

KEY IDEA: The power of deadlines.

Next, Dean Rieck…

“7 easy time management tips for copywriters”

KEY IDEA: Daily “To-Do” list.

Finally, from Pete Godfrey…

“How To Regain Control Of Your Life And Replace Distractions With Focused Concentration”

KEY IDEA: Title says it all…FOCUS.

All three of these articles will repay your modest time investment handsomely.

Here’s my 2 cents on the topic, simply expressing the ideas in a slightly different fashion.

First up, get CLEAR about what’s most important to you.  If you’re a freelancer, I’d suggest that your top priorities are…

1. Booking new business; and

2. Banking fees from current business as fast as possible, subject to producing top-quality work

Any activity that doesn’t contribute to those activities is not a priority.

Copywriting greats Gary Halbert and John Carlton talk about “Operation Moneysuck”…

…which I think sums it up nicely.

Next, create a “To-Do” list every day, prioritise, then tackle the most important task.  When that’s done, move on to the next and so on.

Finally, block out and allocate a set amount of time to achieve specific tasks.

Given your income objectives, you need to know how much your time is worth.  Let me be clear, I’m not suggesting you charge by the hour for your services.

But you need to be acutely aware of the value of your time. If the fee on a piece of work is $100, then spending a whole day on the task is not likely to be a sensible use of your time.

Look, I confess I’m terrible at this and tend to spend w-a-a-y too much time on some projects (usually small pieces of work).

Yes, you should always do good work for clients…but there is always the point where extra effort produces diminishing returns.

As Dan Kennedy says, there’s a point where “Good enough is good enough”.

Talking of Dan Kennedy…

…I would be remiss not to mention his “No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs”.

Here are his “Ten Time Management Techniques Really Worth Using”…

1. Tame The Phone

2. Minimize Meetings

3. Practice Absolute Punctuality

4. Make And Use Lists

5. Fight To Link Everything To Your Goals

6. Tickle The Memory With Tickler Files

7. Block Your Time

8. Minimize Unplanned Activity

9. Profit From “Odd Lot” Time

10. Live Off Peak

If all else fails, simply remember “Time is money”! That ought to make you think if you really should be spending time on a particular activity.

Here’s a mini case study of social media marketing in action that I think contains a number of marketing lessons.

It starts with me logging in to my personal Facebook account to check up on a couple of social activities I’m involved with.

And on my wall I notice this…

“The Rolling Stones – Here are Mick and Keith talking about the release of the ‘lost’ live album (and oft bootlegged) The Brussels Affair”

…with this video…

…which is informative and does a pretty good job of reviewing the album without being too “salesy”.

Such a good job, in fact, that of course I check out the sample track…

…a stormin’ version of “Gimme Shelter”…

…plus the other snippets from the album.

By this stage, I’m thinking that I’ve got to have this thing.

No matter that I already have numerous live albums by the Rolling Stones…

…and multiple versions of their classic tracks.

Do I really need another version of “Gimme Shelter” (or “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” for that matter)?

No…but I WANT It!!!

At this point I’m away from Facebook and on the “Rolling Stones Archive” site…

…where, of course, I can very conveniently purchase The Brussels Affair via download.

And at $7 for the MP3 format, it’s a pretty easy decision.

So let’s review how this mini social media marketing case study unfolded…

1, Firstly, of course, I ended up on a Rolling Stones list of some sort.  I don’t exactly recall how that happened. In my profile I’ve included the Stones in my music “likes” so I suspect that’s the connection.

2. Interesting, relevant content is posted.  Note the power of video here.  Also, they could have simply made an announcement about the album, but the interview is so much more interesting and informative and does a better job of persuading people to take a look.

3. Away from Facebook and on a “home” site, there’s a sample to draw prospects in further.

4. Finally, there’s an invitation to buy.  Could have been done a little better in my opinion.  But, hey, I ended up buying.

Now, of course, the Rolling Stones have a pretty big advantage in that they already have a massive fan base. So for them, social media is simply another channel to reach those fans in some form.

But note how they’ve provided content here and made a deliberate effort to add some value rather than simply push product.

And make no mistake, the Stones are a very slick marketing machine.  Just take a look at how they are working their back catalogue with reissues and “special editions”.

One other marketing point to note in passing.  A “fan” will happily buy what is basically the same content multiple times in different formats.  It might seem strange, but take a look at your own behaviour.  If you’re interested in a subject, you probably don’t have just one book but many…even if some of them cover very much the same sort of ground.

So in your own business, look for ways you can repurpose your material, or add a new angle of some sort or add a new format.  You could well find that there is a lot more life and sales in a product or service than you might think.

UPDATE (30 January 2012):

One point I forgot to mention, was that of course I told a couple of friends about my discovery and at least one of them bought the album. So there’s often a strong “viral” component associated with social media marketing…provided you offer something of value.

Also (and this is implied above but worth emphasising) note the appeal of something that’s “little-known” or “secret”.  Fans love obscure stuff and “rarities” for the “one-upmanship” and “snob” appeal (“I don’t have just the regular live albums…I’ve got this killer bootleg that is MUCH better”!)

Came across a fascinating post about advertising legend David Ogilvy…

…at a rather interesting site called “Letters Of Note – Correspondence Deserving Of A Wider Audience”.

The post is titled…

“I am a lousy copywriter”

…and covers a letter that Ogilvy wrote in 1955 in reply to a question asking for details about how he actually wrote an ad.

Ogilvy relates a 12 step process.  Here is my summary…

1. Find a place to work without interruptions

2. Study the competition and ads for competing products

3. Gathered research material, especially about buyers

4. Get clear on the sales problem and the objective of the campaign. Make sure the client is on the same page

5. Gather as many ideas as possible that could help in the sale

6. Write headlines

7. Write first draft of the actual main copy

8. Rewrite…if necessary (usually it will be)

9. If stuck, take a break.

10. Resume!

11. Complete the draft

12. Edit

Well worth reading the whole thing for Ogilvy’s original writing and some amusing “real world” insights into the man.

There is a process to writing good copy.  Not everybody goes about it the same way, but every successful copywriter I’ve come across has a system of some sort.

One thing that always strikes me is the importance of research – of doing your homework.  Great copy rarely appears out of thin air…it’s usually the result of application, hard work and, ultimately, testing.

Ogilvy himself was very insistent about the importance of research.  Interesting how the advertising business appears to have changed since his time.

In his day, Ogilvy epitomised the “creative advertising man”.  Yet with his emphasis on research and strong support of direct response…

…he would probably be out of place in the modern mainstream ad industry.

McDonald’s recently announced their financial results for 2012…

“The company, which has enjoyed a stellar few years following the economic crisis, said that its turnover had increased by 12pc to $27bn, with net income increasing 11pc to $5.5bn.

This is the ninth consecutive year that sales have increased after it suffered from a crisis of confidence at the end of the 1990s.”

More here…

“McDonald’s hits record $27bn turnover”

Mickey D’s is a somewhat unfashionable company that the chattering classes love to disparage.

But they must be doing something right.

The financial performance is solid…impressive even…by any standards…

…and they seem to know a few things about increasing sales.

And the report brought to mind a comment from Dan Kennedy in his marketing newsletter a few months back (meant to post about it at the time…but you know how it is).

Dan was talking about “Limited Editions” and how any business can use them to boost sales.

“Limited-time offers and temporarily available products are very commonly used in the fast food and mid-range restaurants.  RED LOBSTER gets a 12% bump in traffic when they run their once a year “lobster festival”.  It works so well because it is tied to an already accepted fact…that lobsters are “in season” once a year.”

Dan goes on to talk about the formula for successful promotions like this, namely…

(something special) + (special value) + (limited time period) = sales boost

…and mentions Quizno’s and Burger King as chains that rely heavily on limited-time items.

McDonald’s isn’t specifically mentioned by Dan, but they certainly make use of the tactic.

There’s another factor too, that I think plays a significant role.

Over the last 10 years or so, they’ve become a lot better at product innovation and giving people reasons to come back to their restaurants.

Sure, they’d always tried new things (remember “McPizza” anyone?) but they never seemed to be very successful.

But now, they seem to have developed a surer touch with innovations like McCafe and “premium” lines like the “Angus” burger range (gee, I’m getting hungry just writing about it).

One of the biggest challenges for any business, especially restaurants, is giving clients a reason to come back.

Limited time offers and new products are among the ways to do that.

So keep an eye on what successful companies like McDonald’s are up to…

…and see how you can use the “sales boost” formula in your own business.

The discipline of marketing and advertising is hardly new.

The classic text on direct response marketing, “Scientific Advertising” was published as long ago as 1923.

So it is something of a puzzle as to why large companies, who spend large sums on their marketing, often make what appear to be elementary blunders.

A recent case pointed out by the great Drayton Bird involves UK giant Tesco…

“The other day Tesco’s shares took a beating when for the first time since 1968 they issued a profits warning. Their new chief executive admits with admirable honesty that this was because they changed their promotional approach and got clobbered.

I may be maligning them but I suspect this needn’t have happened. For me the first law of marketing is to test. A friend who worked for Revlon founder Charles Revson told me Revson used to test everything including price in an area before he launched a product nationally.

It is hard to believe they tested their Big Price Drop promotion properly before they gave up the other promotions that were working well. Promotions pretty much identical to those which helped their competitors snatch business from them – and which have worked for years.

Incidentally, I wager Big Price Drop is not as good as The Big Save. I know that because I am a copywriter, and I know that what something does for the customer (save) beats what it is (price drop) every time. That took a split second to occur to me, but if I had a big shiny office fitted out with hot and cold running planners and account handlers I could charge you, assuming I wrote nice long report, a few grand for it.”

Worth reading the whole piece “Big Price Drop = Big Share Drop: Tesco’s Three Mistakes”.

Couple of pretty basic points (poor testing and poor choice of wording).

Now, I know that nobody’s perfect and if you’re an active marketer you’re going to make mistakes now and again.  In fact, if don’t “make mistakes” you’re probably not trying hard enough.

However, business is hard enough without making what are really unforced errors.  Tesco can survive this…a typical small business has less leeway.

And here’s another example…

…this time relating to positioning.

Again, not a new concept and pretty mainstream in the world of marketing.

The seminal work “Positioning” by Al Ries and Jack Trout was published in 1976 (after a series of articles in Advertising Age way back in 1972).

So I was a little surprised the other day when I saw a ad on the side of a bus for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta proudly trumpeting a recent award.

Now, when you think of an Alfa Romeo, the words “Italian”, “Stylish”, “Sporty”, “Hot”, “Sexy” might come to mind.

Depending on your age, less desirable ideas like “rust-bucket” and “unreliable” might also come to mind.

However, I’d be pretty confident that “Safety” wouldn’t be the first idea that pops up.

And if you were thinking of buying an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the fact that it is…

“The safest compact car ever tested by Euro NCAP”

…wouldn’t necessarily be helpful.

That’s because “safety” and “compact” (let alone the combination) equals “boring” and ordinary in the minds of most people.

So in this particular case, this award doesn’t support the main positioning idea.  So why emphasise it?  It must have been very prominent in the ad I saw for me to notice it…remember the ad was on the side of a bus and I probably saw it for a couple of seconds at most!

Will this lose sales for Alfa?  Hard to tell, but in difficult economic times why take the risk by making sloppy mistakes?

It’s as if many mainstream marketing professionals and their agencies know the right buzzwords and things to say…

…but they have no idea about why an ad works and why a sale is made.

Final words on this point from Drayton Bird talking about a friend getting ripped off…

“The client and his media agency clearly don’t know what makes ads work otherwise their ads would have been doing OK before.  So eventually one of two things (maybe both) will happen.

1. The client and/or the agency will start getting bored with the ad and try to “improve” it. Almost invariably in doing so they will miss out something essential or add something unwise

2. The winning ad will run out of steam eventually and they won’t know how to create another.

However, I think this kind of thing will be on the increase in the next year or five, which is all the more reason to know what works, what doesn’t and why – whether you’re the client or the agency. Otherwise when things go wrong you have no idea what to do.”

Full story at “Will this kind of short-sighted behaviour grow in the recession?”

In emotional direct response marketing and copywriting, it’s a central principle to focus not only the results that people will get from your product or service…

…but also the feelings they will experience.

While left-brain types like myself may not necessarily like it…

..the fact is that we humans are very much emotionally driven and emotions play a much larger role in decision making than we might acknowledge.

BUT…there’s something else too to keep in mind about the human psyche as my good mate and master copywriter Pete Godfrey explains in this guest post…

*****

What Are You Really Selling?

I’ve talked long and hard about this point over the years… that you’ve got to sell the end result of your product… you’ve gotta sell how your clients will feel once they’ve achieved or experienced the benefits of your product. For example: Don’t sell a diet book, sell sexiness and self-confidence. Don’t sell Life Insurance, sell peace of mind. Don’t sell marketing strategies to business owners, sell them cash flow. By now, hopefully, you get this. But there’s more to this that I rarely mention.

If you’ve studied history, in particular the people of influence, and if you’ve read and studied “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene, then you know, people have an insatiable almost child-like appetite for Magic and Magic Powers.

In advertising, we call this the Magic Pill; and the closer your pitch is to the Magic Pill generally the more sales you make.

If you’ve ever seen the Giant Tomato ad displayed in many catalogues you’ve seen the Magic Pill in action. If you’ve ever seen the ad on TV for Bio Magnetics, an underlay you put on your bed full of magnets and you wake up without pain, then you’ve seen the Magic Pill demonstrated right before your eyes.

Point is, folks don’t want to know the mechanics of what your “thing” does. They want the intangible magic benefits your “thing” gives them. If you’re in the advice giving business, and this applies to anyone from a Business Coach to a Naturopath, they don’t want to know how you do your “thing”, they’d prefer to believe you are their magic rabbit’s foot, that you possess secrets and powers only you can provide. If you’re selling Real Estate, they just want to know you can sell their house, at the price they want, in the time-frame they want.

You can fight me on this, shake your head and tell me your clients are smarter and more sophisticated than this. But you’d be wrong.

People are people and we haven’t changed that much over the years. To ignore the power of magic and secrets and secret powers is to ignore the way people have been managed and controlled and influenced since the beginnings of time. Folks are looking for certainty in uncertain times. Give it to them with a magical twist.

PS: Never underestimate the power of curiosity.

*****

With more than a decade of experience in the marketing arena, Pete Godfrey, AKA “The Wizard of Words”, has developed a keen eye as to what it takes to succeed in business. As one of Australia’s most successful and highest paid copywriters, Pete has the uncanny ability to turn the written word into money. That’s why clients stand in line and almost beg him to do their promotions.

His client list contains many of the world’s savviest entrepreneurs including Mal Emery, Pat Mesiti, Tom Caraccio and Rowena Helps, Rick Otton, Daryl and Andrew Grant, Bill Zheng, Matt and Amanda Clarkson, Roberta Faddoul and many others. This “working class rebel made good” is also a copywriting trainer, having trained hundreds of budding copywriters including Bret Thomson, Bill Dimitrovski, Kevin Francis and Steve Plummer.

Pete also writes an offline, 12-page monthly newsletter called The Emotional Ad Writing & Marketing Letter (http://www.emotionaladwritingletter.com ) for Business Owners, Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs. His irreverent style and no bullshit attitude offends some, attracts others. To see more on Pete and to get a FREE Bonus copy of his valuable report – “The Ultimate Copywriting & Marketing Secret” valued at a very real $99… go to his blog at  http://www.petegodfrey.com

It’s that time of the month again to look forward at next month (February 2012) and review the various holidays, events and anniversaries that smart marketers can use as the basis for a promotion or campaign.

As an aside, seems it’s never too early to get started on your preparation.  I was aghast to see hot cross buns on sale in my local supermarket the other day!  Easter this year, will be 6-9 April.

Valentines Day (February 14) is the standout occasion for the month pretty much everywhere.

And this year, 2012, also happens to be a Leap Year.  So, February 29 is “Leap Day” this year.

In Australia, the calendar is pretty bare besides Valentines Day and the “Leap Year” theme. The new school year starts at the end of January so there is potential for a “Back To School” theme early in the month.

Elsewhere…

Feb 2 – Groundhog Day(again!!)

Feb 6 – Diamond Jubilee Of Queen Elizabeth II (UK)

Feb 7 – Charles Dickens born in 1812

Feb 11 – Thomas Edison’s Birthday

Feb 20 – Presidents Day (USA – third Monday in February)

Feb 22 – Happy Thinking Day 

Feb 24 – National Obnoxious Day (!)

Feb 29 – Leap Day

You’ll find more off-beat and unusual occasions listed over at www.BlueMountain.com (see the “On this day…” section)

To wrap up this month…

Feb 6 – the game Monopoly first went on sale in 1935

Feb 19 – “Temporary Insanity Day”. On this day in 1859, the defence of “Temporary Insanity” was first successfully pleaded in a US court

In case you missed any of the individual posts…

…here’s a roundup of the series “Marketing Trends For 2012″

Marketing Trends For 2012 – Take 1

Marketing trends For 2012 – Take 2

Marketing Trends For 2012 – Take 3 (Trends In Video)

Marketing Trends For 2012 – Take 4 (Frank Kern)

Marketing Trends For 2012 – Take 5 (Perry Marshall)

As it’s now already January 10, I’ll draw a line under the series and simply add additional noteworthy material here as an update.

One final set of thoughts for the year ahead from the great marketer Jay Abraham…

“The New Year that’s upon us could…possibly…be THE toughest, most challenging, stress inducing, mentally buffeting year you’ve ever lived in your business.

Why? The reasons are many. But the point I want to make is NOT how competitive the marketplace is becoming. It’s NOT how different consumer buying patterns are changing. It’s NOT even a lecture about anything I teach, like the Strategy of Preeminence or the Nine Drivers of Geometric Growth.

No – there’s only one vital/critical/pivotal realization I want you to make as we start the clock ticking loudly away on this year of dramatic volatility we’re calling 2012.

As a business owner – you’re either a proprietor or an entrepreneur. Tragically, shockingly, but truthfully – something like 95% of all small business owners function as proprietors – not entrepreneurs.

Why is this fact so bad? Because your days as a proprietor – operating a ”me too,” commodity-type enterprise are all but numbered. Stated less tactfully – unless you dramatically change who and what you are – your business could become “The Walking Dead” – possibly sooner than later.”

Put in a slightly different way, the days of making good money without adding significant value in some way to your customers is long gone (and not coming back any time soon).

The last 30 years, since around 1980, have been a long economic upswing.  Sure, there were some rocky periods along the way and it might not always have felt like a boom period.  But look back objectively and you’ll see that the economic trend was up throughout that time.

That’s over for the immediate future.  The great Dan Kennedy talks about the “New Economy”, one that’s much tougher for business owners.  In his December 2011 newsletter, Dan quotes Groucho Marx…

“It isn’t so much that hard times are coming; the change observed is mostly soft times going.”

In the past, good marketing and business strategy has delivered great returns.  What Jay Abraham is saying, essentially, is that in 2012 good marketing and strategy is essential if you want to survive in business.

It’s not all gloom, however.  Opportunities are still out there and we live in an era of extraordinary change and opportunity.  For those bold and smart enough to grasp those opportunities, the rewards will still be there in 2012 and beyond.  Mediocrity, however, will not be enough.

UPDATE (13 January 2012):

Thoughts from copywriter Ray Edwards.  Ray may have put off some people with his overt espousal of Christianity but I’ve always found him to be a very smart marketer…plus a good guy to boot.

Here’s his…

“Prophetic Business Predictions For 2012″

This latest Tom Fishburne cartoon brought a smile to my face…

…and an instant identification with the main character!  Perhaps I don’t quite need a separate bag for my “loyalty” cards but there are enough of them.

Which begs the question, of course, how effective are these cards really?  When every retailer has a similar scheme, do they end up as just another discount?

Looking after and rewarding your best customers makes perfect sense, of course.  All too many businesses don’t do nearly enough to make customers feel appreciated and retain their business.  Remember, it’s expensive to acquire new customers and far cheaper to sell to an existing client.

Having said that, creating loyalty starts with having a great product and delivering an outstanding experience.  Perhaps an overused example, but Apple has a legion of die-hard, raving fans without having to resort to incentives or discounts disguised as loyalty schemes.

I’ve mentioned “Frank Kern’s 2012 State Of The Internet Address” a couple of times.  It’s noteworthy because his main theme is that for success in business, the most important area to focus on is delivering a great product and customer experience.

Problem is that all too many people (both online and offline) seem to think that clever marketing is the answer to all business problems.

It’s not.  In direct response marketing having a good (ideally great) product and offer is not optional…

…it’s the starting point!

Sure, there are scams out there but in this discussion we’re talking about legitimate businesses.

So good marketing is essential (lots of great products out there that fail  because of poor marketing)…

…but you have to deliver to the client.

Marketing maestro Jay Abraham has a similar message…

“No – there’s only one vital/critical/pivotal realization I want you to make as we start the clock ticking loudly away on this year of dramatic volatility we’re calling 2012.

As a business owner – you’re either a proprietor or an entrepreneur. Tragically, shockingly, but truthfully – something like 95% of all small business owners function as proprietors – not entrepreneurs.

Why is this fact so bad? Because your days as a proprietor – operating a ”me too,” commodity-type enterprise are all but numbered. Stated less tactfully – unless you dramatically change who and what you are – your business could become “The Walking Dead” – possibly sooner than later.”

(NOTE: This is from an email to Jay’s list.  To subscribe head over to Abraham.com.)

In other words, to survive, let alone gain a significant advantage over the competition, you MUST deliver added value in some form.

More than ever, it’s a case of “Differentiate Or Die”…

…and if you want true customer loyalty, it’s going to take more than some simple marketing tactics (helpful though they can be).

Worth reading the whole post from Tom at…

“loyalty”

…and there’s a nice example (with video) of another company that has created loyal customers with no loyalty program at all.

At this time of year, it’s only natural to look forward and set out goals and objectives for the year.

Here’s a selection of tips and resources to help make those goals and objectives a reality and make 2012 a big success.

First a classic piece from copywriting giant John Carlton…

“The Rest Of Your Freakin’ Life, Re-Redux”

Next, a slightly different take from PR guru Marc Harty…

“3 Proven And Powerful Steps To A Better 2012″

Here’s a complete goal setting system from marketing maven Stephen Pierce…

“Smart Goal Setting”

(comes with a goal setting worksheet and other resources)

And if you want a more comprehensive success system, Stephen has a brand new program “Success Sculpting”.  To get access, all you need to do is provide a “Like” on Facebook.  Details at…

“Stephen Pierce – Success Sculpting”.

While on the topic of success systems, Mark Joyner’s “Simpleology” is well worth taking a look at.

From the folks at “Copyblogger” some tips mainly for writers (including copywriters)…

“31 Pro Tips For A Successful, Satisfying And Insanely Profitable 2012″.

And finally (for the moment), well worth taking a look at Frank Kern’s…

“Frank Kern’s 2012 State Of The Internet Address”.

Stick around for the second part of the video after the main “address”.  Some very worthwhile tips about success and life in general.

My suggestion is that it’s well worth looking at all of these…

…but once you’ve done that, pick ONE system or approach and stick with that.

It’s follow through and consistency that will get you the results you want.  Avoid the trap of trying to follow multiple systems (no matter how good they are) and ending up confused and not getting much done.

Here’s to your outstanding success in 2012!